Sporting CP - Arsenal 2-2
Sporting Lisbon put up a spirited effort to hold Arsenal to a 2-2 draw in their Round of 16 first-leg encounter at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Perhaps inspired by their nail-biting stoppage time victory against Bournemouth, Premier League leaders Arsenal exerted early pressure in a bid to extend their four-match win streak.
The Lisbon club carefully assessed the visitors’ moves in the opening minutes, but eventually gave way to the opener midway through the half, after William Saliba out-jumped the home defence following a corner in the six-yard box to bury the ball in the left corner.
Mikel Arteta’s side seemed complacent after drawing first blood, as the Sporting roared back with successive chances, before thrilling their nervous fans with a carbon copy of Arsenal’s opener.
Goncalo Inacio spotted a pinpoint corner delivery, and he rose high to swiftly guide the ball past a helpless Matt Turner to level terms. The USMNT keeper was then forced into a fantastic save from a long-range effort, but Arsenal finished the first half looking the stronger side.
Having scored nine of their 13 most recent goals in the second half. Arsenal were expected to continue in that same vein, but some intricate Sporting team play in the opposition box left Paulinho with an easy tap-in to give his side the lead.
Sporting’s Hidemasa Morita was then thrown into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, receiving a caution for a foul that will see him miss the return leg in London next Thursday.
But the Japanese midfielder’s evening was to get even worse just a handful of minutes later when an unlucky deflection saw him net an own goal.
At 2-2, the game was now either side’s to snatch, but neither proved capable of taking the initiative or completing the necessary runs. That said, there were penalty appeals from Arsenal on the cusp of 90 minutes after Fabio Vieira went down inside the box under pressure from a green and white shirt, but Tobias Stieler waved play on.
Being the only English side to have beaten Sporting in Lisbon since 2018, Arsenal will rue not having taken their earlier chances, despite extending their unbeaten record against Portuguese opposition in the Europa League to seven games.
And having progressed from each of their previous six ties against English sides in the UEFA Cup or Europa League knockout stages, Ruben Amorim’s outfit will hope to carry this evening’s momentum into the return leg next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Goncalo Inacio (Sporting Lisbon)
Roma - Real Sociedad 2-0
Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma secured a 2-0 win in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie against Real Sociedad, as the Italian side improved their impressive home form across all competitions to eight wins from nine matches.
In a first-ever competitive meeting between the two sides, it was Roma who started on the front foot, and the hosts took an early lead with just 13 minutes on the clock. Paulo Dybala showed impressive vision to pick out the run of Tammy Abraham, and the English striker turned sharply away from Igor Zubeldia, before crossing to the back post for Stephan El Shaarawy to tap home.
After a dismal opening 20 minutes, Sociedad - aiming to become just the third team in the competition’s history to record four consecutive away victories - gradually grew into the match.
Takefusa Kubo rattled the post with a close-range effort, while Chris Smalling narrowly avoided putting a cross into his own net, as the hosts held firm to preserve their one-goal advantage going into halftime.
The opening exchanges of the second half were closely-fought, with neither side able to gain control of proceedings and clear-cut chances at a premium. As a result, both managers turned to their respective benches in the hope of igniting a spark in the final third, and the changes nearly had an instant impact for the hosts, as Andrea Belotti raced through on goal and fired a powerful strike against the woodwork.
With time ticking into the final 10 minutes, Sociedad looked to up the ante in pursuit of a late equaliser, however, Mikel Merino spurned a glorious chance with the goal at his mercy, as the visitors’ profligacy in front of goal continued to prove problematic.
Sociedad were left to rue their missed opportunities, as Roma doubled their advantage with three minutes remaining through Marash Kumbulla, who headed home from Dybala’s corner to give the hosts a well-deserved lead going into next week’s return leg in San Sebastián.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Paulo Dybala (AS Roma)
Bayer Leverkusen - Ferencvaros 2-0
Ferencvaros’ 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end after Bayer Leverkusen inflicted a 2-0 first-leg defeat on the Hungarian champions in the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
For a Ferencvaros side who’d lost six of their last seven Europa League away games prior to tonight, the last thing they would’ve wanted was to fall behind early.
The Hungarians fell to that fate though and were the masters of their own downfall in doing so, as some sloppy play was capitalised upon by Florian Wirtz who exchanged passes with Kerem Demirbay before the latter of the duo emphatically fired Leverkusen into the lead.
That goal didn’t throw Ferencvaros off the trail though, and they could count themselves a little unfortunate not to have hit back straight away when Balint Vecsei’s deft ball was crashed against the bar by Kristoffer Zachariassen.
The visitors were almost left rueing that missed opportunity on the stroke of halftime, but with one goal under his belt already, Demirbay couldn’t direct his strike from the edge of the area on target.
A goal behind at the break, the onus was on Ferencvaros to come out after the break and take the game to the hosts somewhat, but they found it rather tricky to create much by way of clear-cut chances.
In fact, it was Die Werkself who came closer to finding the game’s second goal, but having proved influential in the opener, Wirtz flashed an effort across the face of goal when he really ought to have done better.
On the back of a three-match winless home run in Europe, there was a sense of nervousness at the BayArena as Xabi Alonso’s men inched closer to securing a first-leg advantage.
Despite their disadvantage, there was little urgency from Ferencvaros to salvage something to take back to Hungary and their lack of intent was eventually punished by Edmond Tapsoba.
The Leverkusen defender laid the game, and maybe even the tie, as he steered home the rebound from a venomous Adam Hlozek free-kick to compound a nightmare start to Ferencvaros’ first-ever post-group stage venture in UEFA competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kerem Demirbay (Bayer Leverkusen)
Union Berlin - Royale Union SG 3-3
A Victor Boniface double had looked set to earn Royale Union Saint-Gilloise a surprise victory, but an 89th-minute equaliser for Union Berlin salvaged a 3-3 draw in a thrilling encounter in the German capital. The late leveller extends the hosts' unbeaten home run to 14 competitive games.
After facing each other in the group stage, Union Berlin and Saint-Gilloise were locking horns for the third time this season. The Belgian outfit managed to come through the opening 20 minutes unscathed, largely thanks to the quick reactions of Anthony Moris.
The goalkeeper was on hand to tip Sheraldo Becker’s volleyed effort over the bar, and he was needed again to prevent Kevin Behrens’ downward header from finding the net.
Union Berlin’s only previous home defeat this season took place against Saint-Gilloise in September, and the visitors’ hopes of replicating that feat were boosted in the 28th minute when Boniface’s long-range strike took a wicked deflection, leaving the hapless Frederik Ronnow to watch the ball fly into his net.
As it proved, Saint-Gilloise were unable to hold firm until the break, as Josip Juranovic produced a sublime curling free-kick, which evaded an outstretched Moris.
The German hosts started the second period on the front foot, but they were punished for a lapse in concentration just before the hour mark. A complacent Christopher Trimmel was dispossessed just inside the Saint-Gilloise, allowing Loic Lapoussin to break away before he picked out the run of Yorbe Vertessen, who slotted home his third European goal of the season.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Union Berlin were presented with the chance to level from the spot after Christian Burgess was penalised for handball. Robin Knoche saw his penalty saved, but he made no mistake from the subsequent rebound, thumping the ball into the net.
Parity lasted just three minutes, however, as an undeterred Saint-Gilloise side took the lead for a third time. Bart Nieuwkoop’s low cross found Boniface, who kept his composure in a one-on-one situation to tuck home his second goal of the game.
Sensationally, a dramatic encounter still had one twist left in store, as Sven Michel pulled his side level in the 89th minute with a deflected effort, ensuring the tie remains on a knife edge ahead of next week’s second leg.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Victor Boniface (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise)
